Tag Archives: narrative thrust

Scrivener underway, nailing down the final novel structure. cElissa Field

One of my favorite things about the holidays is claiming long days to read and write. From Christmas Day to New Year’s, I’d read 4 novels, revised a short story, got a dozen story submissions out, and continued working through the editorial list for this novel.

So satisfying to progress through writing, revision and submission — although, it was humbling to realize you never outgrow the fidgety feeling submissions leave you with. No matter my years’ experience waiting for replies, I’ve been bad as a newbie, with that nagging obsession that I was waiting to hear back. The only cure: move on to other work.

As always, today’s Friday Links for Writers shares a list of some of the best writing links I’ve come across in recent weeks. Jane Friedman’s roundup shares 17 of her best shares, so bonus there. Share your thoughts in the comments, to let us know how your writing week has gone, or to share your own best reads of the week. Have a great writing week, all.

This is far from the first time I’ve featured advice from Jane Friedman — I’m sure others will recognize her as a great source of insight into writing and publishing. Call this post from her blog “the motherlode,” as Jane shares 17 links to what she considers the best advice she has shared from authors, agents and publishers from 2011-2016.

This post by Paula Munier has been my favorite read from Jane’s roundup. Drawn from her book Writing with Quiet Hands, Munier asserts that a lack of narrative thrust is most often the culprit. I loved reading what she had to say about the story question, at macro-, meso- and micro- levels. I know I am not alone as a literary writer quietly craving more talk about plotting – this is that kind of piece.

In the same spirit as talk of narrative thrust, this post on Writer Unboxed interviews agent/author Donald Maass on his new release, The Emotional Craft of Fiction. While the post serves primarily to announce the new release, Don shares insights about authentic emotional engagement. Considering the canon of literary advice he has shared over the last decade and more, I appreciated how one of his answers traced the thread between his various books, which maps a growth in what continues to make novels “breakout,” including that crossroad between litfic and genre.

Continuing with the theme of creating an emotional experience, Rita Banerjee shares her essay on Rasa Theory: “Rasa theory centers on taste. Not taste in the sense of sophistication or composure or discernment…But taste in its most primal, animalistic, emotive, and provocative form…Rasa is what happens to you, spectator, reader, part-time lover, when you watch or read a work of art with intensity.” I read the full article in my print copy of Poets & Writers Magazine(Jan/Feb 2017), but share here an excerpt that was posted by Cambridge Writer’s Workshop.

Aerogramme shared this roundup of advice from editor Kim Winternheimer of the Masters Review. I like that her advice asks, what kind of writer are you?, in acknowledging that her advice may lead to different answers for different writers, with some tips on how to make those choices.

Okay, so this may seem an odd link in a roundup of writing advice, yet it is at the heart of the context many of us are operating in this year. Whether you engage in the Resistance, feel threatened by recent politics, or are otherwise engaging in activism, or if you are writing about it, Maud Newton’s plan for one week of daily acts is a concrete map of how many are standing up for right action in 2016-17.

Beautiful picture of Toni Morrison on a wall inside the Lillian Vernon Writers’ House at NYU.

People sometimes ask, “What was the first book you read that inspired you to be a writer?” Mine was Toni Morrison, first Song of Solomon, and then Sula. I signed out a library room at VCU and listened alone to a recording of her reading Sula’s final scene. The wrenching inspiration I took then is repeated in the effect of her Nobel Acceptance speech, shared here by BrainPickings.

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What Are You Working On?

What is your current writing goal? What resources or strategies have kept you moving forward? Share your thoughts or links you’ve found helpful in the comments.

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